Meaning of Block’s e-mails to PRC chief of staff is ‘murky’

While in office, Block sent e-mails referring to ‘tickets’ – which he has implied might be references to drugs – to the PRC chief of staff and another employee. Law enforcement appears to be investigating. NMPolitics.net has seen no evidence that either employee was involved in any criminal activity.

If what former Public Regulation Commissioner Jerome Block Jr. told a television reporter is to be believed, e-mails Block sent to the PRC chief of staff and another employee in the months before his resignation may have related to drug activity.

Block e-mailed PRC Chief of Staff Johnny Montoya on June 28 to say he had found “great seats,” and on Aug. 30 he e-mailed to ask if Montoya had any “tickets.” In a TV report that aired Nov. 28, Block implied to KOB-TV’s Gadi Schwartz that he wasn’t actually talking about tickets in those e-mails.

“Looks like you were asking for drugs or there is some type of drug activity between you and some very high-ranking members of the PRC,” Schwartz said to Block during that interview.

“You could very well be right when you say that. I’ll just say that,” Block replied. “You’re smart and you can read between the lines.”

When pressed by Schwartz, Block, who admitted in August to being addicted to the prescription drug Oxycodone, said, “I don’t really think I attended that many events, to be asking for that many tickets. Like I said, I was a desperate person trying to make myself, or fix myself, for the moment, for the day.”

Public Regulation Commissioner Jason Marks has been looking into the situation and told NMPolitics.net that he has some “lingering concerns about what happened” but doesn’t suspect “that we have a rampant drug problem at the commission that went beyond Jerome.” He said it’s his understanding that a law enforcement investigation is underway.

As part of a wide-ranging special audit that’s ongoing, the office of State Auditor Hector Balderas has reviewed Block’s e-mails, including the two he sent to Montoya and a third he sent to then-PRC employee Javin Coriz that asks for “raffle tickets.” Balderas said law enforcement needs to investigate.

State police are aware of the e-mails, and federal investigators may be as well. It appears that a law-enforcement probe is underway, though NMPolitics.net could not definitively confirm its existence.

Montoya ‘assuming’ e-mails are about tickets to events

NMPolitics.net initially obtained the e-mails Block sent to Montoya and Coriz from a source whose identity will remain confidential. NMPolitics.net later obtained those and other e-mails from the PRC in response to a public records request seeking all e-mails between Block and Montoya and Coriz.

The PRC and NMPolitics.net’s source produced no e-mails from Montoya or Coriz that can be conclusively identified as responses to Block’s e-mails; while one e-mail from Montoya to Block may raise questions, Marks says there’s another, plausible explanation for it.

NMPolitics.net has seen no evidence that Montoya or Coriz were involved in any criminal activity.

NMPolitics.net was unable to interview Montoya for this article despite repeated attempts, and was unsuccessful in attempts to reach Coriz or Block for comment.

But Montoya had this exchange with KOB-TV’s Schwartz about the e-mails in November:

Montoya: “I think we’re reading a little bit too much into it Gadi, honestly. I don’t know what (Block) means by raffle tickets. It’s really not the PRC’s position to really get into code words.”

Schwartz: “So these are tickets to events.”

Montoya: “I’m assuming so, yeah. I hadn’t seen those e-mails but I’m assuming that’s what they are.”

What Schwartz didn’t report at the time was that Montoya was commenting in part on e-mails Block sent to him. KOB did not name the chief of staff or Coriz in its report. It reported only that Block sent the e-mails to PRC employees, so this is the first time the two employees’ names have been made public.

The e-mails

None of the e-mails Block sent to Montoya and Coriz had subject lines. The e-mail Block sent to Coriz (read it here) went out June 1 at 10:15 a.m. Here’s what Block wrote:

“I need a huge favor man. Can you lend me a few of those raffle tickets until the morning when my paycheck comes in. I’ve been fighting with my wife, staying at mom and dads, that’s why I don’t have mine. She locked me out of our account at the bank, but I get a pay check tomorrow. I guarantee I will give it to you first thing in the a.m. I’m not feeling good at all.”

One of the e-mails Block sent to Montoya went out June 28 at 9:06 a.m. (read it here). Here’s what he wrote:

“Homy just emailed me. He only has 13 left and they are going fast. They are great seats for a great deal.”

The second e-mail Block sent Montoya, on Aug. 30 at 8:48 a.m. (read it here), asked this:

“Do you have any tickets at all? Even ‘BOX’ seats?”

Montoya sent an e-mail to Block without a subject line 17 minutes later, at 9:05 a.m. on Aug. 30 (read it here). In it, Montoya asked this:

“Have you heard ‘TAPS’??????????”

Again, NMPolitics.net wasn’t able to talk with Montoya or Block about the e-mails to ask whether Montoya’s “TAPS” e-mail was in response to the “BOX” e-mail Block sent moments earlier or ask other questions.

Marks said he spoke with Montoya about the situation, and there’s another plausible explanation for his “TAPS” e-mail to Block.

“The explanation is some gallows humor about an employee who was being talked about, potentially being terminated,” Marks said.

The meaning behind the e-mails Block sent to Montoya, on the other hand, is “murky,” according to Marks. He said Montoya told him he doesn’t recall receiving the e-mails.

‘He’s not talking about raffle tickets’

On the other hand, Marks called the e-mail Block sent to Coriz, who no longer works at the PRC, “very damning.”

“He’s not talking about raffle tickets,” Marks said. “…The one to Coriz, I think the most plausible explanation is that (Block) was asking for some help with some drugs.”

Overall, Marks said he is satisfied that there’s not “a rampant drug problem at the commission that went beyond Jerome” but said he has “some lingering concerns about what happened.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t have all of my questions answered, but I understand that there are other entities looking into it with more tools than I have,” Marks said.

Other commissioners had little to say about the situation. Commissioner Doug Howe, who replaced Block on the PRC, said only that he understands “that these issues and related e-mails are currently under investigation.” Commissioner Theresa Becenti-Aguilar said she would review NMPolitics.net’s e-mail asking for comment “and monitor it,” but didn’t respond to a follow-up e-mail seeking clarification. Commissioner Ben Hall didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Commission Chairman Pat Lyons had the PRC’s spokesman send an e-mail stating that the agency “has cooperated fully in this matter in compliance with state law.”

“Because the content of the aforementioned documents is currently subject to a ‘special audit’ being conducted by the Office of the State Auditor, PRC personnel will refrain from making any statements on the matter at this time in order to preserve the integrity of the ongoing investigation,” spokesman Arthur D. Bishop said.

That reference to “PRC personnel” refraining from comment may apply to Montoya, though it doesn’t explicitly state that. Montoya told NMPolitics.net before Bishop sent that statement that he would discuss the e-mails with NMPolitics.net once the PRC released them. But Montoya has not responded to a voicemail or an e-mail left after the PRC released the e-mails.

An investigation ‘should be conducted’ by law enforcement

Block had already been battling felony charges related to allegations that he abused the state’s public financing system during his 2008 election when KOB-TV began reporting on other problems, starting in August with questions about Block’s use of his state-issued gas card.

In the end, Block admitted being addicted to the prescription drug Oxycodone and pleaded guilty to multiple felonies stemming from several investigations in a deal with Attorney General Gary King.

The plea bargain allowed Block to avoid jail time if he complied with terms including completion of a drug-court program, but Block was recently booted from that program for noncompliance and could face prison time. To date, Block has faced no charges related to illegal drug use.

Marks said he was told that the AG has copies of the e-mails Block sent to Montoya and Coriz and is currently looking into the situation, but the AG wouldn’t confirm that. Spokesman Phil Sisneros said, “Per policy, we do not publicly discuss our investigations.”

Balderas said his office has reviewed those and other “questionable” e-mails and referred some of them to the state Department of Public Safety “and other regulatory agencies” for investigation.

“I strongly believe an independent and comprehensive investigation should be conducted by law-enforcement authorities,” he said.

State Police Chief Robert Shilling confirmed that his agency received e-mails from the auditor related to the “tickets” issue and said state police are involved in an investigation headed by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

But when asked to confirm that the DEA probe relates to the PRC e-mails, Shilling said he was not authorized to do that, even though he brought up the investigation in response to questions about the PRC e-mails.

DEA spokeswoman Diana Apodaca said she could not confirm the existence of an investigation.

Marks sounded confident that law enforcement is investigating. He said, as a regulator, he’s taken his own probe as far as he can. Now, he said, it’s up to those with subpoena power to get to the bottom of things.

“At this point, the investigation is in the right hands. If they come up with something that requires me to act, I’ll certainly do so,” Marks said. “I think this thing’s going in the right direction. Let the professional criminal investigators look at that, and we at the PRC will move forward with doing our regulatory business.”

This article has been updated for clarity.